Whole-system duct and dryer vent check with before-and-after photos - you see exactly what came out of your vents
That "$99 whole-house special" is a bait ad - the real number appears once they are in your hallway, or the "clean" is a shop-vac at the register. We photograph the inside of your ducts before and after instead.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterDryer Vent Inspection in San Antonio, TX
A dryer vent inspection in San Antonio typically runs $75-$149 and takes 45 to 90 minutes. A technician runs a flexible camera through the full duct run, documents what the lens finds, and delivers a written scope before any cleaning or repair work is priced. If the vent is clear, you’ll have a photo record proving it. If it isn’t, you’ll see exactly why before agreeing to anything.
Most San Antonio homeowners contact us after the dryer starts taking two cycles to dry a load, or after a home inspector flags the vent during a sale. Both are legitimate reasons. But the homes we find with the most significant build-up are the ones where nothing obvious has gone wrong yet - the vent is partially restricted, the dryer is working harder than it should, and the lint accumulation at the first elbow has been there for three or four years without anyone knowing.
CleanRun has been documenting the inside of duct runs since 2013. Every inspection includes a before-photo record of the full vent path, a written price for any recommended work, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise that covers every job we take on. If you’d like to understand what a full Dryer Vent Cleaning in San Antonio involves, that page walks through the cleaning side in detail. For questions before you book, call (726) 600-7155 – a live person answers.
When You Need a Dryer Vent Inspection
Some of these are obvious. Others aren’t, and that’s the point.
- Drying times have stretched. A load that used to finish in 45 minutes now needs 70 to 80. Restricted airflow is the most common cause, and a camera confirms or rules it out in one visit.
- The dryer is hot to the touch or the laundry room is noticeably warm. Heat that can’t exhaust stays in the cabinet and the room. In San Antonio summers, when ambient temperatures are already in the high 90s, an overheating dryer is harder to ignore – and shouldn’t be.
- You haven’t had the vent checked since you bought the house. Homes built in the Alamo Ranch, Stone Oak, or Cibolo Canyons areas between 2010 and 2020 often have vent runs of 20 feet or more with two or three elbows. Builders ran the shortest path to the exterior, which isn’t always the most serviceable one. If you’ve owned the home three or more years and never had an inspection, the camera will almost certainly find something worth addressing.
- You’re buying or selling the home. A dryer vent inspection produces a documented photo record that either confirms the vent is clear or gives the buyer and seller a concrete scope for remediation. Neighborhood inspection culture in San Antonio’s 78249, 78258, and 78230 zip codes has pushed this into standard pre-listing practice.
- The exterior vent flap barely moves when the dryer runs. That flap should push open visibly when the dryer is on. If it flutters weakly or not at all, airflow is restricted somewhere in the run – often at a crushed flexible section behind the machine or at a debris-packed elbow.
- The vent exhausts into a wall cavity, attic, or garage instead of outside. This gets found more often than it should. A camera inspection identifies the exhaust termination point and confirms whether it meets the current IRC Section R504.4 requirements that apply to Texas residential construction.
Our Dryer Vent Inspection Process
Here is exactly what happens from the time the technician arrives to the time they leave.
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Written price delivered before the camera comes out.
The technician quotes the inspection in writing before starting. Haven Standard Clause 1 applies to every job we run – no work begins without a price the customer has agreed to in writing. The inspection cost covers everything described below, with no add-ons introduced mid-job. -
Exterior termination and vent cover inspection.
The technician checks the outside first. The termination point is photographed, the damper or louvered cover is tested for free movement, and the clearance from grade, roof line, and any gas appliance vents is measured against IRC and San Antonio building code requirements. Bird nests and wasp nests are the two most common findings at this stage in the Hill Country and Southside neighborhoods – both block airflow completely. -
Camera pass through the full duct run.
A flexible inspection camera is fed through the run from the dryer connection point to the exterior termination. Every section of the duct is photographed: the transition duct behind the machine, each elbow, any vertical or horizontal run inside the wall cavity, and the final exit point. The camera captures lint accumulation depth, any crushing or kinking in flexible sections, signs of disconnection inside the wall, and moisture staining that may indicate a past blockage. For longer runs – common in two-story homes in Helotes and Leon Valley – we use a Rotobrush-compatible camera system that reaches the full run without cutting access panels. -
Airflow measurement at the exhaust point.
A measured reading at the exterior termination gives a baseline. Manufacturer specifications and NFPA 96 guidelines set the expected exhaust velocity for a given duct length and configuration. The technician records the actual reading and notes how it compares. A number tells you more than a technician’s opinion of how fast the air felt. -
Written findings report and photo record delivered to the customer.
Before the technician leaves, you receive a written summary of what the camera found, the airflow reading, and any code or clearance issues identified at the termination point. The photo record is included – not emailed later, not available on request, just part of what you get. If cleaning or a repair is recommended, the written price for that work is included in the same document. -
No-pressure next step.
If the inspection finds nothing that needs correcting, the job ends there. The photo record and report are yours. If the camera found a 4-inch lint pack at the second elbow, you’ll see the photo of it and a written price for the cleaning before you decide anything. We don’t carry the assumption that an inspection automatically converts to a cleaning job – that’s not how documented evidence works.
BeforeAfterDryer Vent Inspection Pricing in San Antonio
A dryer vent inspection in San Antonio costs $75-$149 for a standard single-dryer residential run. The range reflects three variables: duct length, number of elbows, and accessibility of the exhaust termination point. Here’s how those factors break down in practice.
| Scenario | Typical Price Range |
|---|---|
| Standard run, 10 feet or less, single elbow, ground-floor termination | $75 - $95 |
| Mid-length run, 10-20 feet, two or three elbows, standard wall or side termination | $95 - $120 |
| Long run, 20+ feet, roof or second-story termination, or attic-routed duct | $120 - $149 |
| Inspection + same-day cleaning (when cleaning is approved after findings) | Cleaning priced separately, in writing, after inspection findings are reviewed |
The inspection price does not change based on what the camera finds. Finding a severe blockage does not retroactively increase what you agreed to pay for the inspection. If the camera finds something that warrants Dryer Vent Cleaning services or repair, that work is quoted separately in writing and you decide whether to proceed.
For homes in San Antonio’s older central neighborhoods – Southtown, King William, Olmos Park – Vent Cleaning configurations sometimes include original galvanized duct runs with non-standard fittings or terminations that have been modified over decades. These situations may require a longer inspection pass and the price will reflect that. Either way, the written price comes first.
If you’ve received a written estimate from another company, bring it. CleanRun puts its own number next to it in writing under the Free Second Opinion policy. No charge for the comparison.
Call (726) 600-7155 to get your written inspection price before the technician arrives. Estimates are free and given before any work starts.
What the Camera Finds in San Antonio Homes
San Antonio’s climate creates two inspection findings that show up more frequently here than in drier northern markets.
The first is compressed flexible duct. Many homes in the metro built between 2000 and 2015 used foil-flex transition duct behind the dryer – often routed through a tight cabinet space or around a corner. San Antonio’s heat causes that material to soften and compress over time, particularly in laundry closets on south- or west-facing exterior walls. The camera shows the compression clearly: a run that should be 4 inches in diameter may be pinched to 2 inches at the cabinet wall. Airflow through a 2-inch restriction is not adequate regardless of how clean the rest of the vent is.
The second is moisture staining in the duct wall, which in San Antonio’s high-humidity summers indicates that warm exhaust air has been condensing inside the run. This is most common in long routed runs through unconditioned attic space – a common configuration in the Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills areas where attic-level mechanical chases run horizontally before terminating through the roof. The condensation itself accelerates lint adhesion, meaning these runs accumulate material faster than a straight wall-exit configuration would.
The inspection camera documents both conditions accurately. The photo record is dated and delivered as part of the standard job deliverable – Haven Standard documentation practice, not an optional upgrade.
Why the Photo Record Matters More Than the Technician’s Word
CleanRun has held a documented photo record standard on every job since the first job in 2013. The practice isn’t a marketing decision. It exists because a technician saying “your vent was pretty blocked” is a different thing entirely from a photograph showing the 3-inch lint accumulation at the first elbow, taken before the cleaning started.
The photo record does three concrete things for the customer. It confirms that the work was actually done – not just that a truck showed up. It gives you a baseline for the next inspection, so you and the next technician are working from the same documented starting point. And it removes the ambiguity that makes most home service transactions frustrating: you paid for something, and here is photographic evidence of what the condition was, what was done, and what it looks like now.
For dryer vent inspections specifically, the before-photo is the deliverable. You’re paying for an accurate documented assessment of the vent condition, not for a technician’s verbal summary at the door.
Frequently Asked Questions: Dryer Vent Inspection in San Antonio
How often should a dryer vent be inspected in San Antonio?
Once a year is the standard interval for a household that runs the dryer four or more times per week. San Antonio’s humidity accelerates lint adhesion inside duct runs compared to drier climates, so a 12-month cycle is not conservative – it’s appropriate for local conditions. Households with large families or shared laundry running daily may find that 8-month intervals make more sense once the first inspection establishes a baseline. The photo record from each visit makes it straightforward to compare accumulation rates over time and adjust the interval accordingly. Call (726) 600-7155 to schedule – the written price is delivered before arrival.
Is a dryer vent inspection the same as dryer vent cleaning?
No. An inspection is a camera-documented assessment of vent condition: it identifies what is present, where it is, and whether the duct configuration meets current code. Cleaning removes the material the camera found. The two are separate jobs with separate prices, and the inspection must come first – cleaning a vent without knowing what is in it, where the obstructions are, and whether the duct is intact is how blockages get pushed deeper rather than extracted. Our full Dryer Vent Cleaning in San Antonio page covers what the cleaning process involves once inspection findings are in hand.
Can a dryer vent inspection find a disconnected duct inside the wall?
Yes, and it does more often than most homeowners expect. A disconnected duct section inside a wall cavity exhausts lint into the wall rather than to the exterior – the dryer appears to run normally and airflow at the exhaust point may even seem adequate because the lint isn’t accumulating in the run. The camera catches a disconnection by showing the image going dark or finding the duct wall suddenly absent. Airflow measurement at the exterior is also a secondary signal: if the duct is partially disconnected, measured exhaust velocity will read low even when the in-wall sections appear clear. If the inspection finds a disconnection, the written report documents its location and a repair quote is included in the same written scope.
What happens if the inspection finds a serious problem?
The technician shows you the photo of what was found, explains in plain terms what it means for airflow and safety, and hands you a written price for the recommended work before asking you to decide anything. Under Haven Standard Clause 1, no work beyond the agreed inspection is started without a separate written authorization. If the finding is a crushed flexible duct section that needs replacement, that’s a written line item with a price. If it’s a significant lint accumulation, that’s a separate cleaning quote. You choose whether to proceed, on the same visit or later. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers any work you authorize, in writing, from the day the job closes. Call (726) 600-7155 if you want to talk through a finding before authorizing the next step.
Schedule Your Dryer Vent Inspection in San Antonio
CleanRun serves all of San Antonio and the surrounding metro – from the home base outward to Helotes, Converse, Schertz, and Live Oak. Tomas Reyes and the CleanRun team have documented vent conditions in more than 52,000 homes since 2013, and every single one started with a written price before the camera came out.
To book a dryer vent inspection or get a written price in advance, call (726) 600-7155. A live person answers. The written price is ready before the technician leaves our side. Estimates are free, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise is in writing on every job.
Written by Tomas Reyes, Owner at CleanRun Air Duct Cleaning San Antonio, serving San Antonio since 2013.